Character Organization

The characters you create are real (at least to you and to the readers of your story) so spending time creating them even before you get to know them better in your writing process is very important! This doesn’t mean you have to know every little thing about them from the onset, especially since you are developing them as you go, but having a basic layout of their appearance, personality, quirks, and at least one thing that makes them unique is very helpful.

I keep a character journal (a handy book I was excited to find on Amazon, but you can use a word document or any random notebook.) This is a great resource to helping you keep your characters consistent in dialogue, appearance and personality. Plus, if you get a touch of writer’s block, you can visit your character journal and spend some time there which often provokes ideas or enables you to delve into a little more character-building ideas. I also find keeping a character journal helpful to refer to if I’m struggling with what my character is going to say or how she/he is going to respond to a certain situation.

Memorable characters are what your readers will remember, so put time into creating them. :)